- (1.) By the Court.--Heard learned counsel for the parties.
(2.) In view of the filing of the reply on behalf of M/s. Tata Steel Limited in response to the order of this Court dated 21.06.2011, this Court perused the minutes of the meeting dated 25.3.2011 convened in pursuance of the order passed by this Court in present W.P.(PIL) No. 1325 of 2011 and found from the minutes of the said meeting that there were allegations that M/s. Tata Steel Limited is dumping slag in the river Swarnrekha by which the bed width of the said river Swarnrekha has narrowed already. Today it has also been noticed from the reply filed by M/s. Tata Steel Company that there is another river Kharkai whose bed width also has been adversely affected because of the dumping of the slag. Not only this, this Court considered the report of the National Environment Engineering Research Institute of India (NEERI), Nagpur dated 15.6.2004, reference of which has come on record wherein it was observed that by putting slag no pollution is created as the slag produced by the Tata Steel Limited contains no such element which can pollute, in chemical sense, the water of the river and referring that report of the NEERI, this Court observed that we are shocked to know that the said company is dumping the slag in the river since years and this fact came to the knowledge of the Pollution Control Board as back as in the year 2004, seven years from today and it was apprehended that said activity is going on to the extent that width of the river has narrowed down. This Court observed that even if it is not a pollution as such in the definition of Pollution Control Act, yet this is nothing but encroachment over the part of the river by putting it to the use of the company.
(3.) In the reply filed by the said company, the stand has been taken that the Provincial Government acquired 15,725 acres of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and the acquisition of the land stretched upto the midstream of both the rivers Kharkai and Swarnrekha and said land was acquired at the cost of the company and conveyed by virtue of two registered deeds of conveyance dated 19.1.1912 and 23.9.1929. It is stated that during the Revisional Survey settlement of 1934-37, the said lands of the rivers were recorded in the Record of Rights in the name of the company. Then pursuant to the amendments in Bihar Land Reforms Act. 1972 and 1983, the absolute rights over the acquired lands vested in the State, whereafter, the company has become the deemed statutory lessee of the State in respect of such lands. Thus, the original lease executed in favour of the company by the State on 1.8.1995 and the Indenture of Renewal of Lease on 20.8.2005 which contains the details of the revenue plot numbers of both the rivers up to midstream (Central line) the company is lessee of the land which include the half width of the two rivers. It is stated that in new survey, the said lands of the rivers have been recorded in the name of State with Tata Steel as lessee.;